Closets or wardrobes are usually closed by a door, such as the time honored hinged door, mounted to swing outwardly from one side of the door opening. In other instances by-passing sliding doors are employed, in which one or more panels hang from overhead parallel tracks and move laterally across the door opening. In still other instances, bi-fold doors, having a plurality of hingedly interjoined narrow door panels, mounted to fold about vertical hinge axes while moving laterally along an overhead guide track are used.
By-passing doors have the advantage of being simple and relatively trouble free. However, they have the distinct disadvantage of permitting only a portion or part of the door opening to be exposed at one time. For example, with a two-panel, by-passing door installation, only one-half of the wardrobe opening is available at any one time.
Recently bi-fold doors have become popular replacements for by-passing doors, principally because they permit a greater portion of the closet or wardrobe opening to be available when in open position. However, because a by-folding door installation requires generally twice as many panels as a comparable by-passing door installation, they are more expensive. Also due to the combined sliding support and hinged interconnection of the door panels, their suspension hardware is susceptible to greater wear and maladjustment, making it more difficult to maintain a trouble free installation.
In an effort to overcome the shortcomings of the bi-folding and by-passing door installations as currently used for closet or wardrobe closures, the present invention provides a unique suspension hardware system which permits substantially full opening access to the closet interior, while using a minimum number of door panels and simplified hardware. Thus this invention incorporates advantages of a by-fold door installation while avoiding certain disadvantages of by-passing door installations.
The current invention is directed primarily toward improvements in suspension systems for use with interior doors and more particulary to improved hardware for accomplishing a combination of pivotal and sliding movements for such doors.
In brief, this invention is directed to an improved suspension system and hardware for wardrobe, closet or other interior doors, embodying intersectingly related linear guide tracks mountable adjacent the upper and lower edges of the doors and means for suspending the door from the over disposed tracks while guiding the same in the lower disposed tracks. Doors equipped according to this invention are movable simultaneously along two linear intersecting axes to effectuate a combination of pivotal and sliding door action along a resultant generally arcuate movement path. As a consequence such doors are movable between positions generally parallel to the plane of the closet opening to positions substantially at right angles to such plane. Because of the unique arrangement and construction of the hardware and suspension system of this invention, mounting the hardware directly to the underlying floor and the overdisposed header of the door frame, eliminates the need for trim jamb members. When the door is in open position, it has a foreshortened extension or projection into the room, and intrudes only a short distance into the closet space, without interfering with shelving or wall surfaces of the closet. When the door is closed across the opening, little or no gap appears between the edges of the door and the door opening. Further, since each door is independently mounted, a plurality of individual panels may be installed across a closet or wardrobe opening to accommodate extra wide closets. The hardware also is readily adapted for both left and right hand door opening movements and since the inside faces of the door panels are fully exposed to the operator in the open position of the doors, such surfaces are readily available to support accessory items, such as mirrors, shoe racks and the like without interfering with the door's operation. In addition, the suspension system is fully stable so that a door, so equipped, remains stable at a desired position along its movement path.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide an improved suspension system for interior doors, such as wardrobe or closet doors.
A further object of this invention is to provide an improved door suspension system, as aforesaid, which provides a combination of pivotal and sliding movements for a door whereby the same is movable from a "closed" position paralleling the plane of the door opening to an "open" position transverse thereto.
A still further object of this invention is to provide improved suspension hardware for interior door panels which is of simplified construction and exhibits improved economies of production, ease of installation and dependability in operation.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved suspension system for multiple wardrobe doors and the like which affords substantially full access to the wardrobe or closet interior.
Still an additional object of this invention is to provide suspension hardware for use with wardrobe doors and the like which provides substantially full access to the wardrobe opening and permits closure of such opening with one or more doors or panels.
Having thus described this invention, the above and further objects features and advantages thereof will appear to those familiar with the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and representing the best mode presently contemplated to enable those of skill in the art to practice the same.